Commission seeks to thwart tax avoidance by multinational companies in the region

BRUSSELS—The European Union will propose on Thursday a new set of rules and common standards aimed at amending corporate tax legislation across the bloc’s 28 countries in an effort to thwart avoidance schemes and ensure wealthy multinationals pay their fair share.

The commission’s push marks a new attempt by the EU to stop large-scale corporate tax avoidance in Europe, where governments are struggling to close budget gaps in the wake of the financial crisis and assure citizens that large companies are being held...